Free Republic

Everyone is exactly who he or she says on the internet – at least according to one Washington Post writer. That conclusion is her rationale to say Christians are awful people. Sally Quinn, Washington Post columnist and OnFaith founder, claimed that, “When it Comes to Hateful Internet Speech, Christians Are the Worst.” In her July 17 article, Quinn examined a white-supremacist site and comments on her articles to conclude that Christian “haters” “need a place to unleash their dark sides.” For her introduction, Quinn pointed at white-supremacist Stormfront to note how the site targeted others: 39 percent Jews, 33 percent...

Both common sense and a bunch of social-psychological literature suggest that when resources are scarce, folks tend to get more territorial and possessive, to stick with people whom they view as members of their in-groups more tightly than they usually would. An interesting new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences used face-morphing to show that white people, in one experiment at least, actually perceive black people differently when primed to think about situations in which resources are scarce. The study mostly revolved around getting a group of white respondents to react to a range of faces generated...

What’s in a name? Apparently, when it comes to hurricanes, a lot. A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that, for Atlantic Coast hurricanes in the U.S., storms with feminine names lead to more deaths than those with masculine names. The best explanation for this, according to the Economist, is that people do not take hurricanes with women’s names as seriously as storms with men’s names. The researchers actually tested this theory — and produced supporting results. They picked five male and five female names from the list to be used for this...

ITHACA, N.Y., April 30 (UPI) -- Researchers at Cornell University conducted a study about biting versus chewing habits in children and found that kids who eat chicken on the bone are more likely to disobey adults and be aggressive. The study, which was published in Eating Behaviors, found that children were "twice as likely to disobey adults and twice as aggressive toward other kids" when eating food they had to hold and bite.

ITHACA, N.Y.,Researchers at Cornell University conducted a study about biting versus chewing habits in children and found that kids who eat chicken on the bone are more likely to disobey adults and be aggressive. The study, which was published in Eating Behaviors, found that children were “twice as likely to disobey adults and twice as aggressive toward other kids” when eating food they had to hold and bite. Researches found that children were more docile when eating cut-up pieces of food, results which would seem to indicate that there is a connection between having to use teeth to eat and...

A new study by Albright College finds women can more easily make their voices sound attractive. According to a new study by Albright college, men are incapable of intentionally making their voices sound sexy. 20 women and 20 men tried to make their voices sound sexy. Another 40 people judged whether they achieved that goal. And found that the women easily outperformed the men. Why is it so difficult for men? I mean, even a cartoon, Jessica rabbit, can do it. Researchers know, that to men, an attractive voice is often linked to physical appeal. While men learn that what...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Black students are more likely to be suspended from U.S. public schools -- even as tiny preschoolers. The racial disparities in American education, from access to high-level classes and experienced teachers to discipline, were highlighted in a report released Friday by the Education Department's civil rights arm. The suspensions -- and disparities -- begin at the earliest grades. Black children represent about 18 percent of children in preschool programs in schools, but they make up almost half of the preschoolers who are suspended more than once, the report said. Six percent of the nation's districts with preschools...

Evidence is accumulating that quality control is a serious issue in academic publishing, which is the key to career advancement for scientists and other scholars. In an age when appeals to "peer reviewed" "settled science" have become standard operating procedure in efforts to impose radical increases in government control over our lives, corruption in the mechanisms for reviewing  scientific publications has very real consequences for all of us. Nature magazine tells us: Publishers withdraw more than 120 gibberish papers. Richard Van Noorden writes: The publishers Springer and IEEE are removing more than 120 papers from their subscription services after...

Fire, brimstone, eternal suffering — hell is not a pleasant concept. But research has pointed to the societal benefits of a belief in supernatural punishment, including higher economic growth in developing countries and less crime. But there are also drawbacks, even in this life. A new study links believing in hell, and perhaps even thinking about it, with lower levels of happiness and satisfaction in life. "It seems there is this trade-off," said Azim Shariff, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Oregon. In research published in January in PLOS ONE, Shariff and a colleague looked at international...

Canadian researchers have confirmed what most people suspected all along: that internet trolls are archetypal Machiavellian sadists. In a survey conducted by the group of psychologists, people who partake in so-called trolling online showed signs of sadism, psychopathy, and were Machiavellian in their manipulation of others and their disregard for morality. The researchers defined online trolling as “the practice of behaving in a deceptive, destructive, or disruptive manner in a social setting on the Internet” for no purpose other than their pleasure. …

In 1999, newspaper columnist Molly Ivins was diagnosed with breast cancer and promptly exhorted her readers: "Go. Get. The. Damn. Mammogram. Done." She also quoted a friend, columnist Marlyn Schwartz, who lamented, "If you have ever wondered what it would feel like to sit in a doctor's office with a lump in your breast trying to remember when you last had a mammogram, I can tell you. You feel like a fool." Ivins' breast cancer killed her in 2007. She didn't say whether she had gotten regular mammograms before her diagnosis. If so, she was spared something many a dying...

According to a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, about 20 percent of the population is attracted to their own gender. That’s nearly double the usual estimates of about 10 percent. The authors explain that their methodology might have something to do with it: Participants were randomly assigned to either a “best practices method” that was computer-based and provides privacy and anonymity, or to a “veiled elicitation method” that further conceals individual responses. Answers in the veiled method preclude inference about any particular individual, but can be used to accurately estimate statistics about the population. Comparing the two...

Researchers say they’ve found more DNA evidence that possibly shows gay men don’t have a choice — that their biological makeup drives them to homosexuality. In a study at Chicago University, researchers looked at DNA chains of 400-plus pairs of gay brothers and found what they said were two distinct bits of genetic material that they claim are linked to homosexuality, The Daily Mail reported. The gay brothers were identified and recruited to help with the study over the course of several years’ worth of Gay Pride festivals and marches. The research was highlighted during the recent annual American Association...

It turns out clues about a person’s identity and ethnicity can come from a surprising source: earwax. Researchers from the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia decided to analyze earwax as a possible source of personal information based on previous studies in which researchers analyzed underarm odor to unlock clues about a person’s identity. "Our previous research has shown that underarm odors can convey a great deal of information about an individual, including personal identity, gender, sexual orientation and health status," study author George Preti, an organic chemist at Monell, said in a press release. "We think it possible that...

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (CBSDC) – Accelerated aging and a greater likelihood of suffering from an age-related illness at a younger age are two consequences being linked to African-American men who have experienced high-levels of racism throughout their lives. A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds that African-American men who reported high levels of racial discrimination, or who have internalized anti-black attitudes, have an increased risk of premature death and chronic disease than white people. Previous research has documented African-Americans’ shorter life expectancy and greater risk of chronic diseases, but this new study is the first to...

Geographers from Kansas State University have created a map of the spatial distribution of the Seven Deadly Sins across the United States. How? By mapping demographic data related to each of the Sins. Below are screenshots of the maps in standard deviation units; red naturally is more sinful, blue less sinful.

Yes dear, I am eyeing her up… it’s in my genes: Scientists offer explanation for why men ogle womenIf you catch your man’s eyes wandering when a beautiful stranger walks past, don’t blame him – it’s all the fault of evolution. Chaps are naturally drawn to people they have never seen before while women prefer familiar male faces, a study reveals. Men were shown pairs of photographs of women and asked to rate their attractiveness for the research at Scotland’s Glasgow and Stirling universities. When photos were produced for a second time alongside previously unseen images, they were distracted by...

A British study has identified the age at which men finally grow up -- and it's 43. That's 11 years later than their female counterparts, according to research commissioned by Nickelodeon UK. Men demonstrate their immaturity by being amused at farts and burps and playing video games, among other things, said women who participated in the survey. Not being able to cook simple meals, re-telling the same old stories and jokes when out with the boys, and owning a skateboard or BMX were also high on the list. Nickelodeon UK released the results in support of its launch of a...

<p>I hope that not too many millions of dollars were spent to reach this conclusion.</p>

This is another one of those subjects I wanted to write about a few months ago but it fell on my back burner. Every so often we see some new study that "proves" that Fox News viewers are stupid. The latest one that came out a few weeks ago proved that your average Fox News viewer has an average IQ of 80. PJ Media's Charlie Martin proceeded to dissect this study, first by contacting its author. The author didn't give a full name, worked for some fictitious organization, used a bizarre methodology, and could not reveal who had commissioned the study...